Reviews:(Ampersand Etcetera) Another from Eh?(41) - this time a live recording by the trio of Ricardo Arias, Miguel Frasconi, Keiko Uenishi from the NY Sculpture Centre in 2004. Object presents the concert/work by the unusual trio: Ricardo on balloons, Frasconi glass objects and Uenishi computer. The photo (a similar one is on the cover) is from Frasconi's blog/site well weathered music and I have made it larger than usual so that you get an idea of the set-up. The balloon kit allows for soft and hard rubbing on the balloons, which would appear to be close miked, squeaking and groaning, stretching, more gentle sensitive sounds and percussive soft thuds. In his glass kit Frasconi rubs glasses, jangles them, strikes like a bell, blow over openings to resonate, chiming; and the laptop slowly reveals itself, sometimes subtle hums and buzzes, undertones and through tones and possibly some processing but not sure. The structure of the album is terrific and allows you to understand the different components. The concert was divided into trio/solo/duo/solo/trio/duo/solo/duo/trio - which means each player gets a solo which explains the individual sounds, the three possible duos get an outing and the three trios explore the full extent - the final one is an extended conclusion to the album. You can imagine what it might sound like, the reality is even more impressive. And so throughout the 50 minutes we hear a range of sound combinations and moods - there are loud passages, more restrained sections, subtlety and roars. The prime mood is of delicacy, introspection and exploration, but with periods of excitement and denser movement. Overall beautifully balanced and fascinating. - Jeremy Keens

(Chain DLK) Object: the name says a lot above all if you go to the back of the packaging and give a look to the instruments adopted for this recording, by the way if you don’t trust me just give a try to the sound as sentenced by Prevost: “No sound is innocent!”. Arias, Frasconi and Uenishi play laptop, glass objects and bass balloon kit and their effort ends sounding not so far from many good electro-acoustical releases. Just one track for the sake of live performance, in this way they’ve not betrayed the original spirit of this live show, this long suite has it’s moments and stylistically offers a concert clearly divided in different sections thus don’t expect it to be a typical freaky, post-psychedelic linear continuum. In some way this also reminder the sound of Alessandro Buzzi, just less “jazzy” and not Prevost-influenced but if you’re into played objects and you appreciate him you will like them and vice versa. Well proportioned and really elegant, “Objects” becomes really interesting above all when drift ashore from dogmatic electro-acoustic music and embraces a more avant-garde contemporary scenario, while playing some glasses (or sort of) and that bass-balloon kit Frasconi and Aria have the luck to find some natural intersections in their communication, there the soloist is supported by his mates in a really discrete manner. Every voice is easily distinguishable, every movement is well developed ‘till it reaches its natural declining and that’s good, sometimes you’d really like them to free them from the bondages of gradual ups and down or to quite their natural “shelter” to look for a more violent/sudden change, but there’s no doubt the improvisative edifice is well built on a solid framework. - Andrea Ferraris

(Dead Angel) A trio composed of Ricardo Arias (bass-balloon kit), Miguel Frasconi (glass objects), and Keiko Uenishi (laptop computer), Object appears here with a live recording from the Sculpture Center in New York City, with one long track that is actually nine sections alternating in solo, duo, and trio formations. The unusual instrumentation gives the players access to some truly bizarre sounds, and the shifts from one player to more players means the density of sound comes and goes, depending on how many people are playing at any given time. Silence plays a big part in the performance, too -- strange sounds fade into stretches of silence as the players switch off, and the sounds they make when they are playing tend to be obscure and minimalistic. Frasconi in particular demonstrates that you can make some truly eccentric, even unnerving, noises with just a bunch of balloons. Since the performance is structured on the disc as one long track, it's hard to tell where one section ends and another begins, but there's definitely an ongoing progression from one set of sounds to the next, and each section evokes a different feel and mood. The sounds tend to be largely muted and subdued -- this is definitely not going to be mistaken for power electronics -- and the approach through much of the recording is one of methodical and deliberate pacing, often with sounds so quiet that you have to pay attention to tell what's happening. The "finale," in fact, is almost anticlimactic, with baroque and barely-perceptible sounds that gradually die away into nothingness. Peculiar... very peculiar. - RKF

(Monk Mink Punk Pink) Anthony Braxton’s Composition No. 25 — scored for “creative music orchestra” in 1972 — featured a section calling for 100 balloons to be rubbed together to produce squeaking noises. I can’t think of another instance of systematic use of the balloon until now — not including pieces by Cage, Kagel and Fluxus where a balloon may make a brief appearance. Surely someone must have done more work with the balloon. Ricardo Arias of the group Object can’t be the first to focus on the balloon, can he? But I am more interested in who does it best over who did it first, and Arias has achieved a virtuoso control over his “bass-balloon kit” — a big balloon resting on a stand and played between the legs like a ‘cello. Conjuring squeals and what sounds like highly compressed bowed ‘cello — the balloons are also struck, creating the illusion of floor toms. Playing in a trio with another unusual instrument — the “glass objects” of Miguel Frasconi — including rubbed and stroked goblets/cups/bowls. At times the glass is struck producing glockenspiely tone patterns. These two rare instrumental approaches — and we can point you to Anne Lockwood’s The Glass World if you want more glass in your ears — overshadows Keiko Uenishi’s subtle laptop computer — played on top of actual lap. Or is she processing the other players in such a way as to occult her presence? The 2004 live performance presented on disc flows through solo, duo and trio sections of gentle improvisations — tremolo hum slowing fading in — strange murky sound collage muscling through. The complex sounds — both novel and recognizable — sometimes glass striking glass is just that — pleasant and jarring — electronic and hyper-acoustic — form an appealing and prickling hour. A vocalist of “text” would turn this into the Australian group Machine for Making Sense. Or an amazing performance of one of Cage’s Variations. Marvelously astute noisemusic. - Josh Ronsen

(Vital Weekly) The improvisation side of matters are in the hands of Ricardo Arias (bass-balloon kit), Miguel Frasconi (glass objects) and Keiko Uenishi (laptop). They played together in 2004 at the Scultpure Center in New York. I couldn't quite follow what it says on the cover about solo, duo and trio, but apparently it's so that everybody plays a bit, then as a duo and then as a trio. Spread out in two long pieces this is quite elegant object based music. The rubbing of the balloons and glass in combination with whatever the laptop is doing (stand alone sound production or processing of the sounds produced). They play a vibrant piece of music, which is put together in a great way. Most of them delicate and softly played with lots of attention for the detail. Highly improvised but throughout a wealth to hear. One of the best releases on this label which I have encountered and a pity it wasn't released earlier. - Frans de Waard

(Aiding & Abetting) Object's instrumentation consists of glass objects, laptop and something called a bass-balloon kit. The pieces are performed as solos, duets and full trios. The sound is otherworldly. The bass-balloon kit provides most of the truly unusual sounds. There's a photo behind the liners that kinda shows what this is...and I can't really piece it together. The sound, though, is probably close to what one might imagine a weather balloon being bowed would sound like. Add in the glass tinkles and everything thrown in by the laptop and there's the distinct feeling that civilization is turning in on itself. I'm not sure if that's where these people were headed, but these are the sounds of collapse. Compelling stuff. Way out on the edge of rational sound, of course, but most intriguing nonetheless. Let this one rest on the edge of your brain for a few minutes and then see how you're feeling. If you're not the least bit queasy, you're not listening hard enough. - Jon Worley

(Touching Extremes) You might be loosely familiar with Arias and Frasconi as collaborators, among others, of two artists that I admire in the same way even if they are light years distant, namely Hans Tammen and Jon Hassell; on the other hand, this is my first meeting with Uenishi, credited with laptop computer. This set was recorded in 2004 as a complementary exhibition in a series of concerts parallel to an installation at Long Island City's Sculpture Center called "Treble". In regard to the traditional aesthetic commandments of the label, this music is a little more minimal and less erratic, but just as lovely. The timbre of Frasconi's rubbed, hit or slightly touched glass mixes nicely with the meager percussive components and synthetic episodes introduced by his Japanese comrade while Arias, from Bogotà, operates his trademark Balloon Kit (an instrument made of several balloons on a structure, played with bare hands or objects such as sponges and rubber bands), adding a further touch of "alternativeness" through rarefied soft bumps and unrecognizable noises, always perfectly efficient in the economy of the pieces. Not really equivalent to a "style", this type of intercommunication privileges attentive listeners, repaying them with quite a lot of moments of fragile spaciousness and concentrated emotion. - Massimo Ricci

(Exclaim!) The modern improv ensemble can sometimes break down like a recipe card, with the lower bits charred off. Here for instance, the ingredients are: one laptop computer (Uenishi); one bass balloon kit (Arias); and one table of glass objects (Frasconi). The instructions on how to blend these hard-to-find items are the obscured part. One suspects that the glass objects and balloons are old world substitutes in a modern dish, as both strain to reach the digital flavour of Uenishi’s flickering laptop pulses. Frasconi teases sympathetic tinkles and tones from his tabletop but Arias, hamstrung by his instrument’s limited range, often comes off like vinegar in the milk. The performance runs a regimented sequence of solos, duos and trios that yield both tasty and bland results. Maybe this fusion cuisine needs an infusion of basics to bring it back to the table. - Eric Hill